Haven't done an EDC post in... uhhh... I dunno, 7 years? Ten?

 Since I haven't done an EDC post in approximately forever... this is what I just carried out to dinner with me, and represents my normal pants (and wrist and neck) Every Day Carry.

I also usually carry a small cross body bag with my medications, a 25000mah slimline USB battery bank, some chargers and cables,a USB/bluetooth DAC and headphone amp, some USB drives and little security tools, additional spare ammo, a multi tool and a multi screwdriver, a notebook, some pens, and my kindle.

I also usually go out with a collapsible but 600lb rated aluminum cane... which is a formidable piece of kit by itself (and it has another flashlight in the handle).

So, from top center, clockwise:

1. Soon to be replaced Samsung Galaxy S8 plus, with Linsoul KZ-ZSX in earmonitors, on a waterproof APTX bt5 cord.
   
   
2. Case Edifice ECB-900 solar smart chronograph (it syncs with phones and atomic clocks etc...
   
   
3. Kershaw Ken Onion S30V Blur
   
   
4. SureFire Stiletto Pro flashlight
   
   
5. KenaKai RFID/NFC blocking wallet. The wallet itself has a metal mesh faraday cage as its lining, and is opaque to x-ray. Inside, in addition to normal wallet items, are a concealed set of lock picks, a concealed knife, and a concealed handcuff key
   
   
6. Custom Springfield EMP (I did a full action, reliability, and trigger on it... it was a gift from my girlfriend), with a simple belt slide holster, and a spare mag... a total of 19 rds of Federal HST 9mm +p. I'm thinking of putting the green laser CT laser grips on it.
   
   
7. A microfiber cloth... it's what I carry instead of a handkerchief
   
   
8. CRKT Get-A-Way driver on a QD clip, to a QD web strap key chain, which attaches to a real 1600lb rated 80mm D-ring carabiner (I wear a rescue belt, which can be used with the carabiner to lift me or secure me to something if necessary).

The StilettoPro by the way is brand new today. Prior to that, and for the last almost 20 years, on my keychain I have carried this single AAA all titanium type 3 hard anodized 25 lumen LED light made by a local aircraft aluminum/titanium fabricator, called the ARC-P (the "premium" version of the ARC-AAA).

Arc went out of business 16 years ago, but the light itself is tiny, light, and indestructible. I will probably keep it clipped to the d ring in my daily carry bag.

Honestly... I cant think of much of anything I could do to improve this setup... I'm pretty happy with it... except I would like my 340pd back as a backup pocket carry gun.

Turning Circles

Everything in the entire material universe, is circles, squares, lines and arcs.

If you can rotate one piece and hold another piece completely still against it to cut it or grind it, you can make anything perfectly round and concentric.

Once you get a set of four pieces perfectly round, concentric, and identical, you can find perfect level.

Once you can make four pieces perfectly round, concentric, and level, you can take a piece and make one surface perfectly flat.

Once you can make one surface perfectly flat and level, you can make a second surface perfectly perpendicular to it, and perfectly flat and level.

Once you can make two surfaces perfectly flat, level, and perpendicular to each other you can always find 90 degrees.

Once you can make things perfectly round and concentric, and make two surfaces perfectly flat and perpendicular to each other, you can make anything flat and square on all sides.

Once you know one exact measurement... all you need to do is hold it up to something else you know the size of... and can make something flat, square, perpendicular, and level on all sides, then you can always find a 45 degree angle.

Once you can make something flat and square on all sides, and you can always find a 45 degree angle, you can make anything flat, square, and true on all sides.

Once you can find an exact measurement, and exact 90 and 45 degree angles, you can always find the center of any measurement, and you can always double any measurement.

Once you can halve and double any measurement, find 90 and 45 degrees, and find the center of any measurement, you can find any measurement at all.

Once you can find 90 degrees, 45 degrees, and any measurement at all, you can find any angle at all.

Once you can make something round, concentric, flat, square and true, and can find any measurement and any angle, you can make any spiral or helix you want, and thus, cut any screw thread or gear you want.

Once you cut four threads and four gears to act against each other, you can double the precision of your threads and gears.

Once you can find any measurement, and the center of any measurement, and can find 90 degrees, and 45 degrees, and any angle at all... and can halve and double them... you can double the precision of your measurements... and redouble them to any degree of precision.

Once you can double the precision of your measurements, and the precision of your threads and gears, you can make anything round, concentric, flat, square, and true at double precision.

Once you can make four flat, square, and true objects at double precision, and four round and concentric flat and shafts at double precision, you can double it again...

Then you can double the precision of your threads and gears again, and redouble, and redouble, to any degree of precision.

...and by doubling, redoubling, and halving, and quartering, over and over, you can find any measurement, of any line, at any degree of precision, and make anything round, concentric, flat, and square to any degree of precision.

Once you can find any measurement, at any degree of precision, and can always find the center, 90 and 45 degrees, you can find any angle, to any degree of precision.

Once you can find always find endpoints, and center points of any line, any measurement, and any angle, at any degree of precision, you can describe any arc, at any degree of precision.

... and cut any screw or gear, at any degree of precision.

Once you can make anything round, concentric, flat, square, true, and level, find any measurement and any angle, cut any screw and any gear, and describe any arc, at any precision...

... you can make anything at all...

This is how the entire industrial world developed, and how everything is still made today...

Everything... everything manufactured piece, every machine, everything in this modern world... begins with the lathe.

An off the cuff shooting bench

I couldn't sleep last night, and I had sketchup open anyway, doing the lathe bench; and the last thing I said in that post was that it would be pretty easy to take this same basic design and make a shooting bench out of it... so what the hell, I did.

Again, sketchup seems to be adding or subtracting random 64ths to my dimensions; as they were even numbers when I laid them down. the top is intended to be 27" wide; the center part of which should be 9". It should be 48" long, 34" high (before you add height adjusting feet to the bottoms of both front legs, and either the center of the back leg, or to both uprights... you can adjust the leg length to suit your preferences), and the straight sections of the the top shown in the plan view should each be 19.5" long, with the angled sections being 9" long and 9" wide.

The primary structure is all 4x4 dimensional lumber milled down to 3", with 3/4" plywood top, shelves, and gussets. All wood joins are glued and screwed (face screwed, pocket screwed, or lag screwed, depending on the join). The benchtop is finished with tempered hardboard, glued and screwed, with thin sheetmetal edging, supplied by drywall corners.

The main structural member, is a T-beam, created by jointing, then gluing and lag screwing three, four foot lengths of 4x4 milled down to 3" (tip: mill to 3-1/8" before gluing up the three across pieces, then run the glueup through your planer after it's dry... presuming you are using a soft resin glue that wont damage your planer of course... to smooth and true up both sides and get down to 3" thickness); with a fourth length of the 3" lumber glued and lag screwed to the center piece, forming the T shape.


In these two views, I have shown only the front plywood gusset, the rear being obscured; but it should be obvious that it is a simple rectangle, extending to the bottom of the lower shelves subframe.

Also the front gusset is shown as ending above the shelf, but this was just for clarity, to show the 3" crossmember between the front legs, underneath the shelf. You could leave it this way, or you could extend the gusset to the bottom of the crossmember, for improved looks, and added rigidity.

In these views it is hidden, but the front benchtop crossmember is one piece, extending the width of the top, and saddle joined over a half lap notch cut in the cross-t  section of the front of the  T-beam; then glued and screwed.

In these views there are also three frame members you cannot see.

There is a long frame member running from between the rear leg uprights and the bottom of the rear gusset; glued and screwed to the shelf, and lagbolted into the front crossmember, under the front gusset.

There are also two diagonal braces under the benchtop; running from the end of the front upper top supports, back to the T-beam (to which they are pocket screwed), at a 45 degree angle.

Oh, and on the back legs, there are two little shelf cleats, just to keep that back end of that shelf stable. You can make them out of the scrap cutoffs from the 3" stock pretty easily. 

You may want to forgo the metal top coaming, and  perimeter edge the entire top with thin trim stock (1x2" pine trim board works fine). It will add somewhat to strength and rigidity, plus improve the longevity of the plywood top, while also dramatically improving the looks of the thing.

The dimensions of this bench are 27"x48". It could easily be extended out to as wide as 48", and as long as 72".

If you extend the width of the top beyond 32", I recommend you double the width of the center section to 18" with a six timber wide main beam section, and two timber wide center "t"; and instead of just a diagonal cross brace on each side of the top, run a full perimeter frame on each wing, with a second top crossmember across the point where the cutout begins.

You may also want to run a support brace, from the outer corners of the wings frame, down to the lower crossmember on the front legs; pocket screwing them into the legs at that point. If you do so, I recommend making the front plywood gusset, extend to at least half the width of the bracing frame; for additional rigidity.

Alternately, if you extend all the way out to 42" or 48" you could take vertical members straight down from the wings; making them the primary front legs, and meeting up with the splayed central members, as crossbracing (miter cut the center angled members to meet the vertical face of the legs, and pocket screw them into place.. or even rabbet them or birdsmouth them in). In this configuration, you could add an additional crossmember across the braces if you wanted additional support and rigidity.

Frankly, this is a little overkill structurally. It's going to weigh something like 150lbs as is; but it should be extremely stable, and last until the pine rots.

UPDATE: 

The question was asked, why use 4x4s, and why mill them down to 3x3?

Good question, and I never did explain it in the last few posts.

You mill the 4x4s down, to get them flat, square, and true; something most dimensional lumber is most definitely NOT from the lumber yard.

It's an old cabinet makers trick for getting clean and relatively cheap framing wood. 4x4s, 4x6's, and 4x8s (if you can find them anymore) are generally pretty decent wood, just ugly, and twisted, bowed, skewed, knotted etc... by milling and resawing them you can get good, even dimensioned wood.

Also, it's very convenient to work with square, evenly dimensioned stock. It makes for good corners, good miters, mice face joins etc...

The problem with using 2x4s is their true dimensions are 1.5"x3.5" and by the time you've got them flat, straight, and true, you're probably below 1.25"x3.25"; which is an awkward dimension, and not particularly strong for primary frame members.

If I were looking to not overbuild here, I would make the primary t-beam and the legs from 4x4 stock milled to 3x3; and then do all the secondary framing with 2x4s milled to 1x3.

Visualizing the Lathe Bench

So, I got some comments about my lathe workstation idea, saying that people couldn't visualize what I was thinking of.

Well, thanks to the wonderful people at Google, that's easy enough to resolve.

Someone asked for a threeview; but I think reciprocal isometric views, and a face on view (rather than two faces and an isometric) would be more illustrative.

So here's a couple of shots of a quickie sketchup model I did...

first the left iso:

Then the right iso:

And the end face:

Not sure exactly why sketchup added and/or subtracted 1/64th inch to the measurements, because I know they were accurate when I drew them up.

The lighter wood is 4x4 dimensional lumber, milled to 3". The mid tone wood is 3/4" plywood, and the dark wood is tempered hardboard.

I'm not sure whether the center uprights are necessary or not. I'm thinking with the T-Beam for the top, it's probably strong and rigid enough without them. Also, I wouldn't be doing any silly through joinery on the middle shelf. Just a gap around the legs with some edging.... if I even put the legs in at all.

What the drawing doesn't show is the metal top coaming (done with drywall corner probably), shelf edging (probably some premade molding trim strips), bottom framing, or the casters and height adjusting feet.

I left them off for clarity; and because I haven't found exactly what I want to use yet. Same thing for whatever dust and chip collection system I end up rigging (probably one of those big ABS chutes into my shop dust collector).

Also,  I need to reduce the height of the legs based on whatever heavy duty locking casters I find, so that the worktop ends up at 40 inches.

Now that I've clarified with a drawing, let's confuse things again.

I'd probably put in another 3" frame member across the bottom center of the upper shelf (between the center legs), and a triangulating crossmember between the leg uprights, crossbolted into the legs and the shelf member, and screwed into the bottom of the plywood end plates.

The end plate is a full structural gusset, glued and screwed into each individual member, for rigidity.

For the drawing, basically because I didn't feel like taking the time to do it, I just show a simple miter and butt join from the top of the outboard legs, to the bottom of the T-Beam. For the real thing, I haven't decided whether I'll rafter cut it, to give a two face join; or cut a corner block and pocket screw through it (thank god for Kreg jigs).

I'll probably put 3" longmembers and crossmembers across the bottom of the outside legs, and from leg to leg, both on the bottom and the top of the base shelf. Then I'll do inside corner bracing on the bottom frame, with a 3" brace, and a 3/4" ply gusset glued and screwed over it; to bolt the casters and feet to. Finally, I'll run two more 3" longmembers,  from one the inside edge of the corner brace, across the entire bottom to the other inside edge of the corner brace, on each side... or if I decide to keep the center legs, I'll just run the two long members underneath the legs and screw up through them..

All that will edge the base shelf, keep the center of the base rock solid, add mass, AND make for a seriously rigid frame structure.

If I end up dogboning the bottom shelf, I'll leave the end crossmembers, but move the outer long members inboard to say... an 18" wide center section; then triangulate the frame with outside corner bracing (making a 7" right triangle with diagonal members on all four corners, from the end of the outboard legs, to the long members).

However, I don't think I need to dogbone it. Looking at it drawn up, and given the mass of the thing; possibly including a few bags of lead shot, or sand... I think I can reduce the width of the bottom shelf/splay of the legs, down to 28". Given the lathe is 8" wide (the benchtop it's on is 9" wide) and the toolrest is right on the outside edge of that width, that would only leave 9.5" sticking out further than the tool rest, which should let me work just fine without leaning in...

...and frankly, even at 32" wide that's still only an 11.5" reach; and I've personally got a 14" reach from 90 degrees, elbows straight down from the midline of my body to the center of my fist (add another 5" from the center of my fist to the tips of my fingers). In a normal working stance, I don't think the full width bottom shelf would restrict my movement or force a reach at all, especially with 4" or 6" casters on the thing, so I can get my toes under the frame (somehow, I'm not worried about the frame collapsing and falling on my feet).

Of course, I'm taller than most, with longer arms than most.

Oh and yes, I know this is a ridiculously heavy, and overbuilt design.

That's the point.  All up, that's about 96 linear feet of 3" milled 4x4 and most of a sheet of plywood. It should weigh in around 280-300lbs, depending on the total weight of the hardware and fasteners used.

I WANT it to be very heavy to absorb vibration. I want lots of doubled up structure to improve rigidity; but I also want it to be of very slightly elastic elastic wood construction, to better damp out that vibration.

Oh and incidentally, the total cost, including fasteners, would run about $180 if bought from a home despot in my area.

One might also note, that if you took the 32" wide dogbone base I talk about above, graft it to the top T-Beam instead of just the 9" wide benchtop, and run a couple of legs down the outside corners into the base frame; one could make one hell of a rigid, heavy, solid, and ambidextrous shooting bench.

Building a lathe workstation

So, I've had this lathe for a few months, but haven't set it up yet:

http://www.woodstockint.com/SHOP-FOX-Shop-Fox-Mini-Wood-Lathe/W1752/

And the extension bed for it:

http://www.woodstockint.com/Extended-Bed-for-W1752-Shop-Fox-Mini-Wood-Lathe/W1753/

The extension bed stretches the distance center to center up to 38" (so I can turn full spindles and table legs, canes, and other long items, in addition to the 15" and under tool handles, pens etc...); and extends the overall length of the lathe to 60".

The manufacturer makes a stand for the lathe without the extension bed, but not for the lathe with it. There are a few sets of lathe legs that can bolt to the lathe bed; but I don't like leaving the bed extender join unsupported.

There are some generic stands out there that are large enough, but they're all sized for much large lathes. Besides, they're really quite expensive (much more than the lathe itself cost), and I don't think any of them are quite what I want. Frankly, I don't think any of the commercial lathe stands are heavy enough, and they're all made of the "wrong" material.

The lathe itself only weighs 140lbs (with the extension. 102lbs without). The commercial lathe stands for smaller lathes are all stamped and bent sheetmetal, with bolted together construction; and most of them on their own weigh less than 60lbs. For a lathe of this size, I'd like to see at least 300lbs weight overall for stability and to damp out vibration. Not only that, but sheetmetal is a poor material for damping, especially when bolted together. Wood or cast Iron are much better choices, being both heavy, and naturally vibration damping. If you have to have sheetmetal, you want it fully boxed out, with welded construction (and if you want to improve it, fill the boxed tubes with foam, sand, or concrete, for more damping).

Since I don't have the capability of making a cast iron stand, and boxing out and welding up a sheetmetal stand is a hell of a lot of trouble and expense; I'm going to go for wood.

Frankly, just about every serious woodturner I know has either a huge, heavy, and expensive cast iron or welded steel stand made specifically for their lathes (usually by the manufacturer of the lathe); or they build their own wood stand. Most guys using smaller lathes (and yes, this is a very small lathe by "serious" standards) build their own.

...plus, I've already GOT a bunch of 4x4s and plywood, in the right sizes, plus all the hardware I need, as leftovers from other projects; cost being a not insignificant factor here.

So, what I'm thinking of, is milling four 6 foot lengths of 4x4 down to 3" wide, flat and true, gluing and lag screwing three of them together across the top and one more as a stringer down the middle creating a T. That will give me a very stable structure to bolt legs and a top into.

Then I'll glue and screw a 3/4" plywood top down over the T, and glue a tempered hardboard surface down over that. Then I'll reinforce the edges of the top with drywall corner bead.

For legs, I'm thinking an A frame style (like a sawhorse only bigger), with three uprights rafter cut at the top to notch into the T truss. I'm thinking about a shelf at the bottom of the a frame gussets (call it 12" below the worktop), and a floor shelf at the bottom of the legs; with heavy duty locking casters on one end, and height adjusting feet at the other, with non-slip pads.

Oh and there is one other major problem I have with most commercial stands: they are all WAY too low.

I'm 6'2", and I like my tool rest to be at 44-48"; which is where my forearms arms are 90 degrees from the elbows out, when standing up straight with my feet shoulder width apart. Most lathe tables, or lathe leg sets, put the tool rest at 38"-44"

The top is going to be 9" wide, and I'm thinking a 28" wide base should be wide enough to be stable, without forcing me to lean too much... but I'm not sure. I may need to dogbone the base shelf, making the end frames 32" wide, and make the center uprights perpendicular members, cutting the center shelf in along the working length of the bed so I can stand closer to the toolrest.

I think I'll put a bracket/upright/holddown for a dust and chip collection system on the backside, and some chisel racks, and layout tool racks; on the front side, in the upper shelf area.

Finally, some hinged or sliding covers over the shelves, to keep out the dust and chips. 

So any ideas? criticisms? experience? suggestions? Anything I'm missing? Think I've got the dimensions right? Any cool features I should be thinking of?

UPDATE:

So, I got some comments about my lathe workstation idea, saying that people couldn't visualize what I was thinking of.

Well, thanks to the wonderful people at Google, that's easy enough to resolve.

Someone asked for a threeview; but I think reciprocal isometric views, and a face on view (rather than two faces and an isometric) would be more illustrative.

So here's a couple of shots of a quickie sketchup model I did...

first the left iso:

Then the right iso:

And the end face:

Not sure exactly why sketchup added and/or subtracted 1/64th inch to the measurements, because I know they were accurate when I drew them up.

The lighter wood is 4x4 dimensional lumber, milled to 3". The mid tone wood is 3/4" plywood, and the dark wood is tempered hardboard.

I'm not sure whether the center uprights are necessary or not. I'm thinking with the T-Beam for the top, it's probably strong and rigid enough without them. Also, I wouldn't be doing any silly through joinery on the middle shelf. Just a gap around the legs with some edging.... if I even put the legs in at all.

What the drawing doesn't show is the metal top coaming (done with drywall corner probably), shelf edging (probably some premade molding trim strips), bottom framing, or the casters and height adjusting feet.

I left them off for clarity; and because I haven't found exactly what I want to use yet. Same thing for whatever dust and chip collection system I end up rigging (probably one of those big ABS chutes into my shop dust collector).

Also,  I need to reduce the height of the legs based on whatever heavy duty locking casters I find, so that the worktop ends up at 40 inches.

Now that I've clarified with a drawing, let's confuse things again.

I'd probably put in another 3" frame member across the bottom center of the upper shelf (between the center legs), and a triangulating crossmember between the leg uprights, crossbolted into the legs and the shelf member, and screwed into the bottom of the plywood end plates.

The end plate is a full structural gusset, glued and screwed into each individual member, for rigidity.

For the drawing, basically because I didn't feel like taking the time to do it, I just show a simple miter and butt join from the top of the outboard legs, to the bottom of the T-Beam. For the real thing, I haven't decided whether I'll rafter cut it, to give a two face join; or cut a corner block and pocket screw through it (thank god for Kreg jigs).

I'll probably put 3" longmembers and crossmembers across the bottom of the outside legs, and from leg to leg, both on the bottom and the top of the base shelf. Then I'll do inside corner bracing on the bottom frame, with a 3" brace, and a 3/4" ply gusset glued and screwed over it; to bolt the casters and feet to. Finally, I'll run two more 3" longmembers,  from one the inside edge of the corner brace, across the entire bottom to the other inside edge of the corner brace, on each side... or if I decide to keep the center legs, I'll just run the two long members underneath the legs and screw up through them..

All that will edge the base shelf, keep the center of the base rock solid, add mass, AND make for a seriously rigid frame structure.

If I end up dogboning the bottom shelf, I'll leave the end crossmembers, but move the outer long members inboard to say... an 18" wide center section; then triangulate the frame with outside corner bracing (making a 7" right triangle with diagonal members on all four corners, from the end of the outboard legs, to the long members).

However, I don't think I need to dogbone it. Looking at it drawn up, and given the mass of the thing; possibly including a few bags of lead shot, or sand... I think I can reduce the width of the bottom shelf/splay of the legs, down to 28". Given the lathe is 8" wide (the benchtop it's on is 9" wide) and the toolrest is right on the outside edge of that width, that would only leave 9.5" sticking out further than the tool rest, which should let me work just fine without leaning in...

...and frankly, even at 32" wide that's still only an 11.5" reach; and I've personally got a 14" reach from 90 degrees, elbows straight down from the midline of my body to the center of my fist (add another 5" from the center of my fist to the tips of my fingers). In a normal working stance, I don't think the full width bottom shelf would restrict my movement or force a reach at all, especially with 4" or 6" casters on the thing, so I can get my toes under the frame (somehow, I'm not worried about the frame collapsing and falling on my feet).

Of course, I'm taller than most, with longer arms than most.

Oh and yes, I know this is a ridiculously heavy, and overbuilt design.

That's the point.  All up, that's about 96 linear feet of 3" milled 4x4 and most of a sheet of plywood. It should weigh in around 280-300lbs, depending on the total weight of the hardware and fasteners used.

I WANT it to be very heavy to absorb vibration. I want lots of doubled up structure to improve rigidity; but I also want it to be of very slightly elastic elastic wood construction, to better damp out that vibration.

Oh and incidentally, the total cost, including fasteners, would run about $180 if bought from a home despot in my area.

One might also note, that if you took the 32" wide dogbone base I talk about above, graft it to the top T-Beam instead of just the 9" wide benchtop, and run a couple of legs down the outside corners into the base frame; one could make one hell of a rigid, heavy, solid, and ambidextrous shooting bench.

Shop Talk, Part 2 - Tool Time, Episode 1

Ahhh, it's a few minutes til Friday, and my plan is to finish setting up my shop tomorrow and Saturday; and maybe get some small projects done by Monday.

Now, as I said, I've got a decent, but not huge, space to use; my two+ car garage (it's not quite big enough for a three car, but it's bigger than a standard 2 car).  I've got 672 square feet on the ground floor; about 512 of it free space, clear of walls, stairs, and builtins.

Not bad.. and certainly a lot better than things have been. In Arizona my "shop" was my front "porch" (actually a converted single car car port) and a 12x12 E-Z-UP style pavilion.

In Arizona.

In summer...

Yeah... I didnt get much done between May and October.

Now I've got a decent space, that I could theoretically heat and cool (though neither are in place as of yet); with both a regular entry door and a nice big garage door; and an upstairs loft for wood storage etc...

So... What am I going to fill that space in with?

Oh yay, we get to have some tool porn.

So, I've been accumulating tools for a while; but I never wanted to make a big investment in the fixed "anchor" tools, until I had a real shop... in fact, since this house is just a rental (albeit one we plan to spend at least two years in), I still don't.

BUT... I also want to do a bunch of precision work. I'm going to be using this shop to build a BUNCH of furniture for our house, plus patio furniture, to build a playset for the kids, to help convert my 28 foot race trailer into a toy hauler (yay, custom cabinetry and benchwork), to restore an old wooden boat or two, and maybe to build a new one or two as well.

So I really need some decent quality tools. I really can't get by with what I was working with.... Or at least I wouldn't be able to put up with the frustrating difficulty of getting it done using that stuff. It's time for REAL tools to work with (if not necessarily the ones I'll have as my primary tools when I have a permanent shop that I build from scratch)

The Anchor Tools

In every wood shop, there are some fundamental or perhaps foundational tools. I tend to think of them as anchor tools... Basically, they are the big, important tools, you really don't want to do without.

The most important tool in a wood shop, is the table saw. Without a table saw, it isn't a wood shop. Really, everything else is convenient, and nice to have, but optional.

Theoretically, you can do MOST of what a table saw will do, with a circular saw, a router, and some hand tools... but you really don't want to do without a good table saw.

In a close tie for second place, are a miter saw, and a band saw. You CAN do the jobs they do with other tools (hand saws, jig saws, circular saw); but your life is going to be a lot harder without them.

Next up is a drill press. Again, you can do most of what a drill press will do using hand and handheld power drills; but it will be slower, less precise, and a hell of a lot harder... And trust me, you dont want to hand drill a few dozen regularly spaced holes in hardwood.

Those are the tools I consider absolutely essential (not including the hand power tools like drills and sanders etc...). There are another couple of tools that are optional, but HIGHLY desirable.

First among these, are the jointer and planer. If you're going to do any furniture making, or other finish carpentry, you really must have either a large number of hand planes, and table saw and router jigs; or a jointer and planer.

The jointer and planer (and you really need both; though with a large jointer, and a good sander and router with the right jigs; you can do without the planer for smaller stock 6" wide and under) allow you to mill your lumber down close to finish dimensions, and make it strait, fair, and true... critical for any fine work.

Also optional but very useful, is a combo disc and belt sander. This lets you move the stock, rather than the sander; for working on large flat surfaces, stock removal, and the edges of pieces.

A "nice to have", that has only recently become affordable for the home woodworker, is the wide belt or wide drum thickness sander. This is a lot like a planer, but instead of cutting knives, it has a wide sanding belt or drum; that will rough sand the surface of the wood you are milling. They ARE rather expensive however. Most woodworkers don't have them yet; but I'm willing to bet that in 10 years, there will be more people with drum sanders, than with planers. People are already starting to give up their planers in favor of buying an equivalent capacity and quality sander (they cost about the same).

The final big "really nice to have" is a dedicated dust collection system. You can always run your shop vac over to each tool as you use it; but they aren't actually all that good at pulling dust, and doing that is a real pain in the ass. You're much better off with a dedicated dust collection system. They start off relatively cheap (in the $250 range), but can easily run into several thousand dollars.

Then there's a third category of  "man, that'd be handy, but I can do it some other way".

In that category, I'd put a router table (for dadoes, rabbets, and edge shaping, but can be done with a router and jig), drum and spindle sanders (for edge sanding, but can be done with a drill press and jig), and a dedicated mortising machine (which you can also do with a jig and drill press).

A bit of a special case is the wood lathe. If you're going to do turning, it's not optional; if you're not going to turn you don't need one... I think every shop should have one, but it's something you can put off until you specifically want to do some turning.

Molders and shapers are similar, in that if you aren't going to do a lot of beading or molding, you can get away without them (using your router, router table, a molding/shaping head in your planer etc..), but if you are, you need'em.

In Arizona, I got by with a 10" benchtop saw with a floor stand (not really a contractors saw), a 10" benchtop bandsaw (WAY too small), a 10" direct drive miter saw, a 10" benchtop drill press, a benchtop belt and disc sander, a 4" benchtop jointer, and a 12" benchtop planer.

The sad part is, that's still $1300 worth of tools (oh and it wasn't intentional buying all craftsman, I got them all at different times... it just sort of happened that way)... and all of them will get the job don... just not as well, and much less conveniently than better tools. Trying to work with these tools made things a lot more difficult than they had to be. They just didn't have the power, the capacity, or the quality, to get the results I wanted.

Of course, $1300 doesn't quite get you a decent 10" cabinet saw (though you can snag a decent hybrid for a couple hundred less) from a major manufacturer... So there are certainly tradeoffs.

What that means though, is that I knew I'd be buying a lot of new tools to rebuild my shop here in Idaho; and since I knew I was replacing them, I didn't want to carry the smaller/lower quality stuff with us.

So, I sold, gifted, just gave away, or otherwise got rid of the tools I was planning to replace (I kept all my really good tools),or otherwise didn't want, or need, to keep.

Of course, that left me with big gaps to fill.

Time to rebuild...

(to be continued in "Tool Time episode 2", tomorrow).

Splinters...

So, I didn't have a BAG day gun this year... Mostly because we bought two home defense guns just before I moved: a new AR carbine, and a Saiga 12 conversion (I'll do some pics of those soon). Then moving went almost $8000 over planned expenditures and I am broke for the month of April (plus all my March bonus for 2009 is bye bye).

...But...

I did find something on tax day this year... something very interesting... and I got to check it out and make the purchase decision today (we'll be picking it up from the owner, with cash in hand, after my next check).

Knowing I didn't have the money yet, but wanting to keep abreast of things, I'd been scanning the local nicklesworth,and craigslist, for boat ads. A very interesting one popped up on tax day... and now... well...

Here are some pics of my new project: An all wood 1970 Carver Custom Cruiser.

It's similar to the '69 Monterey 2580, but  I've got the original dealer bill of sale and options sheet (and all the original user manuals, and the first 10 years of records, which is very cool), and it's labeled as a "Carver 25' Custom Cruiser", not a "Carver Monterey 2580"; and the builders plate doesn't have a model or series number.

I think it might have been a hull that was assembled with power in '69 (the stern drive is a '69 OMC. I've got the original manual for that too); but wasn't completed, as a '69 leftover, until 1970.

It's FULLY optioned up, with all the optional hull and cabin teak, the extra instruments (aqua meter including compass and depth sounder), electric windshield wipers, the chrome horn, the monomatic electric head, the propane stove, shore power, the teak steps and boarding ladder (the ladders not mounted at the moment), ALL the factory canvas (mildew free, amazingly), the extra handrails and "custom" bowrail, even the original curtains, and the contrasting top stripe on the hull (though it's been repainted since).

Everything is there, everything is functional, and most of it is in pretty good shape.

Here's the link to the factory brochure from 1969 (Carver is a great company, and they really appreciate their history. Warning, PDF). Here's the 2580 page from the brochure:

It's got an OMC 210hp motor (a GM 307 small block V8); and the last owner put in a new carb and exhaust logs. The motor runs strong, and clean, and sounds good.

The hull is sound with no rot, and just a few sprung or loose planks (easy fixes), and the wood is in great shape.

I did screwdrivers tests all over the hull inside and out, and didn't find a single soft spot in any structural or cosmetic wood (some of the plywood decking was a bit week, but not rotten); though there are some rubrail repairs and patches made with the wrong screws. 

It runs, doesn't need much pumpout (like any wooden boat, when its out of the water, the wood dries and shrinks; and when you put it back in the water, it will leak a fair bit until the wood swells), doesn't smoke, and doesn't burn oil.

The guy has run it all season for five seasons; he just hasn't had the time or energy to complete the project work... and his wife likes their 28' party barge a lot more.


I picked it up for less than scrappage value (seriously, it wasn't free, but it might as well have been). Oh and the custom trailer comes with it of course...


...WAY below scrappage value...



A functioning stern drive, with a decent condition small block in front of it... at least $1500.
The trailer alone would have cost me more than $1500.

I didn't pay nearly that, for the whole thing.



Now I just need to scrape, sand, seal, and stain or paint; 4000lbs of 40 year old mahogany...

I THINK I have a decision about the saw

Firstly... I get more comments on a chainsaw post in one day, than most of my gun or political posts ever get.

Actually, ANY tool posts get a lot more comments. People who never comment on anything, go for the tool posts.

Second, I think I have a plan of action for the saw.

After a bit more research, I've decided that I can afford to go a little smaller than the 70cc models. I'm thinking I'll save the weight, and the money (around 30%), and go for one of the pro 50cc models. The landowner/homeowner 50cc models don't have the juice for what I need, but I think with the pro models, I can get away with the 50s.

If I end up needing a 70cc saw (or bigger), I'll buy it later; but for the next two years (until we buy the big property), a 50cc ought to do it for me.

Realistically, I think anyone looking to do a lot of cutting and clearing needs three saws anyway: one smaller model for light trees, brush, and light limbing (the Poulan is perfectly adequate for that); one medium sized saw for felling medium trees, bucking small and medium trees, and heavy limbing; and one saw for BIG tree felling and bucking (a 28-32" 80cc or bigger).

For the next two years, I won't need to be felling or bucking anything more than 24"; and I should be able to handle that with a strong 50cc, with a 20" bar, maybe even a 24" bar (which I think is iffy on a 50, but I don't plan on cutting big hardwood with it. The big ones are all birch, pine, fir, and tamarack. You want at least a 70 to pull a 24" in hardwood).

Oh and thanks to True Blue Sam for the tips on bore cutting etc... I learned the old way, with saws that didn't have the power to do that; and my instructors always jumped HARD on NEVER burying the kicking edge of the nose (even with the attack edge engaged). Even if you didn't kickback, they were dead certain you'd stall the chain (and with the saws we had, you would).

When I had to deal with hard cuts, I was taught to roll in and angle cut at the dog end of the bar, back to the attack edge of the nose, and back again; then cut out the angle created by that, and start the cycle over again.

If you do it right, you keep the tree from pinching the blade out while you're hinging; and you can attack a harder and thicker tree with a smaller and less powerful saw than you would ideally wish (I learned on old, crappy, low powered saws).

Of course, if you do it wrong, your hinge fails. Obviously, the bore cutting technique works better. You can take a much harder tree, much faster and safer, with bore cutting. Theres just a lot fewer ways for things to go wrong, leaving a backstrap on the tree.

At any rate, I'm going to go for a strong 50cc class saw, unless someone with the right experience convinces me otherwise.

I've narrowed it down to the Husqvarna 357xp (56.5cc, 4.4hp, 13-20" bar, 12.1lbs)



and the Stihl MS362 (59cc, 4.6hp, 16-25" bar, 13.7lbs).



The Husky is a fair bit lighter, the Stihl has a bit more power (I think the 25" max bar rating on the Stihl is a bit optimistic, and the Husky can probably pull a bit more than 20" without much trouble... Maybe a softwood rating for one, a hardwood rating for the other), they both run about $650 street. They both have a lot of fans, and a lot of detractors (chainsaw partisans are as rabid as any other tool partisans).

It's been a while since I looked seriously at new heavy duty saws. When I bought the Poulan, it was because I could get a 42cc 18" saw for under $150 out the door; not after extensive research (unusually for me). The new motors on these pro saws... Damn. 25% more horsepower for the same displacement as a few years ago; and the power to weight is so much better it's crazy.

What I'm going to do, is visit the Husqvarna, and the Stihl distributors for the area (there are actually one for each with 10 miles, and 3 for each within 30), take a look at both saws and at both dealers. Unless one or the other saw is clearly better in my hands, I'll make my decision based on which dealer/distributor network I think will give me better service.

With a pro saw, it really is about the service.

Free firewood... but I think I need a bigger chain saw

So, while we were gone; there was a big wind storm up here, that took one of our trees down (and a fence slat or two, and some other minor damage).


I'm pretty sure that's a birch of some kind. Not sure which, since the thing is so mossy, and in pretty rough shape anyway (and it's been 20 years since my boy scout tree identification lessons).

There are a few more, similar, trees on the property that I really need to take down. A few shorties, some of which have been topped off by nature already; and couple MUCH taller than this little boy (in the forty foot range), and consequently much thicker through the main trunk and stump.

It took me a couple hours to reduce just that little one to logs, using my 18" Poulan Pro; and I had to make four cuts at the base, which was less than a solid foot thick, to avoid binding, or lugging and stalling.



This little saw has served me well for the last couple years in Arizona; but it just can't handle the trees out here. It's really a light duty saw, for limbing and the like. I picked it up on a massive sale for I think $119, and used it to clear overhangining limbs etc...

Note: Several people in comments have noted that I should be able to take that tree... or a 24" for that matter using my current saw; and I agree, I SHOULD be able to. It's a 42cc saw, it SHOULD be able to do so, providing I am using the right technique.

Thing is, I AM using the right technique. I'm not a novice at running a chain saw. I learned as a teenager PROPERLY, in the New Hampshire woods from experienced firewood cutters.

I AM out of practice however. Although I used the thing every month or two for maintenance; it's been... I guess 7 or 8 years since I've had to fell and buck any trees. I could certainly use a refresher, but I've been reading True Blue Sam (a pro) and some other resources on the web, and I'm not doing anything particularly wrong).

She cut fairly easily on shallow cuts, and not so bad on the short face cuts. It was whenever I had more than an inch or two of the blade bearing on the wood (on a relatively soft wood like Birch you SHOULD be able to get 4" of good bearing surface, even from a 40cc saw on an 18" bar without bogging in any way), had the blade buried much (of course, keeping the tip cleart) or when I had a knot I couldn't avoid that she bogged down badly.

I even stalled the chain a couple times, on cuts that really shouldn't have stalled the chain, though that's where if I had been more in practice I could have avoided it. I paid closer attention after the second time, and didnt stall again.

Also, she got a bit hotter than I like, even cutting that bitty tree... Though I suppose part of that poor performance is me running it with an anti-kickback chain. My current chain is reasonably sharp (I haven't sharpened it recently, but it's not bad. Could be better...) , but I'd certainly get better performance out of it with a new, non-safety chain.

Also, someone noted that saws are classified by displacement, not horsepower; which I was also aware of, but most people reading this post (like my wife) would have no idea what the difference between a 40cc, 50cc, or 60cc saw was, other than "is one bigger?".

Now, I'mna need a real felling and bucking saw; and you all know my philosophy about tools: Either buy the cheapest thing that will do the job, or buy something that will do everything you need for life (or twenty years, or however long a reasonable expectation for that tool might be).

I plan on using this to clear land later on, with trees up to 24" thick. I'm also going to use it to buck out said cleared trees for firewood.

Accordingly, I'm thinking about a 60cc or 70cc, 5+hp 28" or so Husky:



or Stihl:



I don't really NEED one of the big 7 or 8hp Husky XPs. My neighbor has a 93cc, 7hp 32" Husky 395XP, and it's a damn nice saw; but it streets for over a grand, and that's just too much for something I'm not making my living with. Besides which, it's a heavy bastard.

The problem is, there's a HUGE gap between say, the 390xp (87cc, 7hp, 18-28" bar, streets at just about $1k); and the top end of their "landowner" line, the 359 (59cc, 4hp, 13-20" bar, streets at just under $500). The 359 is a good saw, but it's only got a bit more capacity that my little Poulan (for a lot more money).

Frankly, I don't think anything MUCH smaller than the 390 is going to do the job I want.... or rather I'm pretty sure the landowner type models WONT do the job particularly well, or hold up to the duty for years; and if you're going to buy a pro model, the prices are all pretty close together.

There are other saws in between the two, like the 70cc, 5.5hp 372; but it streets for just $100 less than the 390, for considerably less capacity. I'm sure it could do the job I want to do, but for $100 more I could get the $390... Not sure if it's worth the difference or not, plus the 372 is 2lbs lighter.

Husky doesn't have any 60cc saws, and I'm not sure if the 50cc saws are enough. They jump from the 50cc class, to the 70cc class (and from 4.4hp to 5.3hp, and 20" max bar to 28" max bar).

Stihl gives you more options (they have a ridiculous number of models), but the prices are in about the same range.

I figure for what I want to do, the 441 (71cc 5.5hp, 16"-32") or 460 magnums ( 77cc, 6hp, 16"-32") are about the smallest that will have the capacity for what I want; though the MS362 (59cc, 4.6hp, 25" max bar) might do the job as well.

So, I know theres a bunch of experienced loggers, land clearers, firewood cutters and the like out there reading me; what do YOU recommend for clearing, bucking, and other use up here in the north woods?

Update: I THINK I have a decision about the saw

The Saw Stop in Action

The SawStop is a great system. Really, it would be wonderful if it was widely available on every saw. Unfortunately, the owner of the technology won't license it to anyone for less than extorionate rates (as in doubling the cost of a table saw.

Ok, every inventor has the right to make money of their invention, and I wouldn't begrudge the man that, but for one thing: Hee's lobbying congress, and the CPSC (consumer products safety comission) to make SawStop mandatory on all tablesaws in the U.S.

Sorry buddy, it won't fly for the microstamping scumbags either.

The system works, very well in fact; though not with all saw blades (the blade has to be within a certain range of inductance). In fact, sometimesit works a bit too well, in that some woods with resinous saps; and wet wood; will set it off too.

Ooops.

Oh and when it goes off, the saw has to be rebuilt at the cost of from $80 to $300; plus the cost of the blade (and premium saw blades can be very expensive).

Good Christ, Gaffer Tape is EXPENSIVE

So as a part of going back on the diet, we are of course going back on the excercise regime as well. Only one issue; the cats have SHREDDED the pads on the smith machine over the past two months.

The solution of course, is not just gaffer tape; but the super high strength vinyl over cotton, extra strength adhesive Permacel 672 pro gaffers tape, in the black 3" wide variety.

The best part though, is that it's got a 69lb (per 1") tensile strength, and 60lbs per sq. in of holding power. So a 2" strip of the 3" wide stuff can pretty much support the weight of a full grown man. ...and of course being gaffer tape rather than duct tape, it leaves very little residue when you DO want to take it off.

You could upholster your car with this stuff if you wanted to; though of course you wouldn't want to.

Only one problem, the stuff is $30 a roll even at discount places on line (it's $50 a roll at local race shops, and theater supply places); plus shipping.

Damn.

Oh well, at least there's 50 yards of the stuff on the roll; and it's a hell of a lot cheaper than buying new pads, or re-covering the old ones with new vinyl.

Oh and that isn't the most expensive gaffers tape by far. Extra strength racers tape, and PC-68 super premium vinyl gaffers tape are both $40 a roll in 6 roll cases; and only available by the case.

A True Cut

So, I mentioned yesterday that my little bandsaw couldn't make a true cut to save my life.

Well, I didn't buy a bandsaw just for the hell of it; I bought it because I needed it. I've been disappointed in this little 9" Ryobi (actually I have model just previous to this one, which is even a bit cheesier):



I hate it, because it's light weight, flimsy, and doesn't cut true... but for $90 I don't know how much I can complain. I needed a bandsaw right then, it worked for the three days I needed it, and ever since I've been using it to trim dowels and open clamshell packaging.

What I didn't mention yesterday, is that I've been doing something about that whole 'needing a decent bandsaw but not having much spare cash right now" thing.

A couple weeks ago, I ended up going onto the sears.com clearance pages; and there was something I couldn't resist. This bandsaw, which was retailing for $159 was on sale for $100; and Craftsman club members (of which I am one), get free shipping:

Now, I'm not saying it's a Laguna, Delta, Powermatic, Rikon, or even a JET (I'd like this one thanks it'll do everything I want) but it's INFINITELY better than the little Ryobi. For one thing, the saw table alone on the Crafstman weighs more than the entire Ryobi saw, and no, I'm not kidding. The craftsman is 100% welded steel, cast iron, and cast aluminum; and it weighs 80lbs. The Ryobi is mostly plastic and weighs 30lbs.

The new saw has a 3.5 amp 1/3 hp motor, and is belt driven. The Ryobi has a 2amp 1/6th hp motor, and is direct driven. The motor tension, and both wheels are adjustable, and the motor is easily replaceable. The Ryobi... well basically if it breaks, throw it away.

Although the Craftsman is made in China, it has the look, feel, fit, and finish of a much better, and more expensive saw. The truing mechanism and blade guides are both finer in adjustment, and have a broader adjustment range. Most importantly they are all bearing (3 bearings each, top and bottom), whereas the Ryobi uses very small nitrided guide blocks.

The only things I would wish for on this 10" are more solid and stable adjustments on the saw table (it's secured by one bolt); and that it had a work light (I can always add one). Oh and one more thing, the blades on the new saw aren't a standard consumer size (70-1/2"). They're readily available from saw blade suppliers, but not at home centers and hardware stores.

Anyway, I've set up the new saw, tested it, trued it; and I'm very happy. Now I just need to wait for the temperatures to fall enough for me to actually work in my shop (I haven't done anything in the shop since mid June because it's over 115 and humid every day right now).

I'm not going to throw the old saw away though; it's going to become an indoor craft saw; and now that we're getting into larger bulk meat buying, and freezing, I'm seriously considering disinfecting the whole thing and picking up a meat blade for it (they're only about $10).

"There's a better way: I cheat"

As y'all know, I'm a bit of a gadget fiend... Tools, electronics... if it beeps, buzzes or goes bang, I love it.

There's just one thing that ruins my gadgetal (is that a word? Well, it is now) bliss: Plastic clamshell packaging. That horrible bubble, hermetically sealing your goodies away, and damn near impossible to open.

...And what satanspawn decided to seal the tools used to open them, in the same type of packaging you needed the tool to open? It's a conspiracy I tell you.

It's so bad, they even make a little tool just for clamshells: http://www.myopenx.com/home.htm

There is however a better way: I cheat.

I have a 9" bandsaw that I picked up for a small project. The saw didn't do the job I needed it for too well, but it's just dandy for opening clamshell packaging. Run the blade around the edges of the plastic just inside the heat sealing, and it opens a clamshell quicker than you can scream "Where's all that blood coming from".

The saw isn't much use otherwise (it can't make a true cut to save my life); but after opening a few dozen clamshells with it, I've got more than my hundred bucks worth.

Note: this is a very slightly edited form of my submission to Toolmongers writer search. They got back to me saying my writing was good, but not in their style; which is a valid point.

Didn't finish any blog posts today

I've got I think 8 posts on the back burner waiting for me to finish them (maybe more... I've been lazy lately); but I didn't manage to finish any today, because I was writing my application for this:

Who Wants to Write for Toolmonger? We’re on the prowl for bloggers who have a passion for tools and all things Toolmonger. If you’ve got what it takes to join the Toolmonger team, drop us a line at jobs (at) toolmonger.com with the subject line “Toolmonger Writer Search.” In the body give us your name, your three favorite tools, and two original, unpublished posts of around 50 to 200 words in the Toolmonger style. A few notes: We’ll delete all emails with attachments, so include all your text in the email body itself. Not the world’s best writer? If you’re the world’s best tool finder, we might be able to help. Our biggest requirements are that you’re interested and that you’re committed. Good luck!

SO of course it being me, my submission started out at 400 words; even though I was trying to write it short. I ended up mercilessly slashing it down to 200, and sending them a few linked samples for good measure.

Honestly, I'd really love to do this. I love tools, I love woodworking, metalworking, and gunsmithing... and I love toolmonger (it's my favorite linky blog - as opposed to writing/essay/rant oriented blogs).

Besides, they NEED someone to write some longer material. Basic howtos, hacks and substitutions, longer reviews etc... instead of doing quite so much linking. I'd also appreciate reading something from the perspective of someone who isn't a complete beginner, but who isn't a professional contractor either (as both the Toolmonger guys are)

I have no idea what the gig pays, or if it pays anything at all for that matter; or what exactly they are looking for. Let's see if I get the gig before I start thinking about that.

Another Workbench Post

So, last time we saw the humble workbench/blogstation, it looked a bit like this:



A bit crowded, a bit messy; not very efficient etc...

Well, over the past few weeks, I've built a second workbench for the gun room (and two for the shed that I haven't built yet, that are currently taking up half my car port).

But that wasn't enough... so a couple days ago, I built a powder hutch

But that wasn't enough... so this morning, I grabbed this riser and cabinet set on sale for $50 (I was going to build one anyway, this saved me some time and money).

and now... well, it's still not enough, but it's a ell of a lot better, and it looks like this:



...and from the other side (the blurred out bit is a wooden cut of my ham call sign):



Most of my frequently used small tools are now within easy reach on the pegboard; the rest are either in drawers under one of the benchtops, or in the rollaway which is about three feet to the left of my chairs position.

Immediately to the left is my ammo storage rack, a six foot five shelf black wire shelving unit. Theres about four feet of space behind my chair position and then a four foot long table, with a "love seat" (which is actually the third row bench from my truck, which we never use) next to it against the wall and two more sets of blackwire shelves the same size and configuration as the ammo shelves; for general storage; one of which has the short end of the table pressed against it.

The whole thing makes a wraparound J from the ammo shelf on one wall, around the benches and love seat, into the rear shelving, and then hooking out with the table. Basically theres a work surface and storage space accessible from every seating position in the room.

I'd get pictures of the rest, but the place is a bit of a mess at the moment. I still havent re-built it form when we destroyed it before and after the Texas trip.

So, still not done... but better.

Oh and the large empty space behind the press and powder measure on the left side of the bench? Yeah pretty soon that press and measure will be gone, replaced with a progressive press. I'm going to build a small portable bench for the other press and measure so that JohnOC can load at home (technically it's his press and measure. I sold them to him like two years ago; but he doesn't have a home workshop space).

I should note, this is just my small project, gunsmithing, and reloading bench. My woodworking area (excepting the scroll saw; which is for fine work) is two 3'x4' flat top heavy work benches, built to te same height as my tablesaw.

The tool addicition gets more organized

Sometimes teh intarweebs are useful; for example, I just snagged this deal:

Craftsman 40 in. Riser & Overhead
For $50, marked down from $400...

Though honestly I couldn't imagine who would pay $400 for it... since it's a rollaway accessory (it can also be mounted on a bench) though, you'd be amazed...

I also saved the 90lbs worth of shipping by doing an in store pickup. The warehouse guys were wondering why when they'd never sold ONE of these things in the two years they'd been there (they'd had a half dozen sitting in the corner), they sold ALL of them today (I'd snagged the last one);so I told them about the clearance deal. They agreed only an idiot would pay $400 for it; but for $50 it's a pretty damned good deal.

I'd be done, if I weren't an idiot

With the chest that is.

I ripped and crosscut all the panels (3/4" oak ply) to size this morning (actually early afternoon, and using my new tables, which are working out very well by the way).

Remind me never to try and do precision joinery on large panels ever again, with anything less than a cabinet saw. Trying to get square and trim down to 1/16" over a 5 foot length of two foot wide panel on a saw that barely weighs more than the panel....

Let's just say Ripping these panels to width was not the most pleasant experience, and its one I'd prefer to not repeat.

Then I put a 3/8" rabbet all the way around each panel, so I can inset the floor, and stairstep lap all the corners; both for strength, and for waterproofing.

Once I was done, I started gluing up; using gorilla glue, because it's expanding, gap filling, and water proof. I wet the rabbet, ran the glue bead, spread it, and corner clamped the sides together; then brad nailed the sides together in position (thank god for air nailers) , and move to the next corner.

This is where I made my error.

As I was doing the third corner, after the glue on the other two had already set, I noticed that I screwed up. Because I wasn't paying careful attention (I was chatting with Mel at the same time as I was working) I had screwed up the lap on one of my sides.

I had intended to inset both sides behind the face of the front and back, just like the floor; but instead I had done one inside lap, and one outside lap.

...and they were already well set with a waterproof expanding glue, and cross nailed in place....

Oh joy...

So I knocked the third corner apart (I was halfway done building it) and changed it's lap orientation to keep the box square, so now I've got two inset laps, and two outside laps.

That's OK from a joinery perspective, it's still strong and water proof etc... but it leaves me with a problem...

Remember, I'd already cut and rabbeted the top and bottom to the original dimensions. Well now, with the changed joints, the box is 3/8" narrower, and 3/8" longer.

So now I have to re-rip, re-crosscut, and re-rabbet the top and bottom; oh and of course the top and bottom are now too short; so I have to glue and brad two filler strips, and then cover them up with the face frame.

One the face frame is in place, you won't be able to tell a thing went wrong, but I'll know, and it will irritate me.

All that is about an extra two hours work, because I had already broken down the saw setup. So I had to reset everything for the rip and crosscut. Then re-set again for the Rabbet.

It was a PITA, and I'm irritated because if it weren't for all the extra work, I'd be done tonight; except for finishing.

Oh and even better, the box has a length constraint and a width constraint. The width is going to be OK, because the box is 3/8" narrower... unfortunately, the LENGTH is a problem. The box is now 3/8" longer, and I've only got 1/4" of wiggle room on my original dimensions...

So I'mna have to plane down the 1" oak (which is actually 3/4") to 1/2" on the sides in order to clear the side walls of the cargo carrier (I have a planer thankfully; doing it by hand is a royal pain; and doing it on the tablesaw is nearly as bad).

Anyway, all I need to do now is the face frames (all four walls, the top, and the floor have an oak face frame; glued and screwed to the panels, and each other, both for looks and for strength), and final fitting on the top, and I'm done. In theory it should be about two hours of work, maybe three. Hopefully the chest will be done tomorrow.

I can't stop myself...

The tool addiction continues unabated.

Actually, it should be sated for a little while; this one wasn't so much a new tool, as it was replacement of an unsatisfactory one.

A couple months ago I bought this Craftsman drill:


Just as a general household drill; not for any real heavy duty work or anything. I was going to buy a decent Makita, De Walt, Porter Cable etc... but their replacement batteries are $90, and don't last much longer than the Sears Die Hard batteries... plus the battery alone is the price of an entire new Craftsman drill with two batteries.

So, it was either buy a drill for $90 with two batteries that'll probably last two years, and then go back and buy two more batteries for $25 each in two years; or buy a $180 drill with two batteries, and have to buy $180 worth of batteries in two years...

Yeah to me, it's not worth the extra for the expensive drill. With a pro, using their drill 10 hours a day, absolutely, pay for the magnesium cased drill. You're going to kill the batteries fast no matter what, and the drill will last through 5 sets of batteries. For me, I'm going to kill the batteries before the drill.

Only one problem: I discovered while driving about 240 3" deck screws over the past four days, that under heavy use at high torque, one of my batteries was discharging at an excessive rate, and not recharging to full capacity.

That's a bad thing. In an older battery thats jsut normal behavior as it dies; but in a new battery it could mean leaking and/or catching on fire etc...

Also, the drill has this "auto chuck" feature, that seems a bit fragile, and makes the chuck work oddly. I'm pretty sure much more heavy use and I'd break it.

Anyway, I'd used the drill rather heavily for several months, and I didn't think I could return it; so I went down to sears to go and buy a new battery. I also figured, hey, I'll buy another charger so I can keep both batteries charged at all times (the chargers have a trickle mode so it's safe to leave them on the charger full time).

I get down there, and the batteries are the normal $25, plus $30 for the universal fast charger; for a total of $55...

... oooor, they have this electric impact driver:



...which COMES with two batteries and the same charger, all of which are compatible with my existing drill; and it's on sale for $100. $80 for two batteries and a charger, or $100 for two batteries, a charger, and an impact driver.

So yeah, I bought the impact driver.

Now, here's where the REAL tool addiction shines through though. After I bought the driver, I mentioned to the sales guy that one of my drills batteries wouldn't hold a charge, and that I didn't like the auto-chuck. He tells me that I can't get a refund on the other drill, but that they'll exchange it for me no problem.

Excellent.

So I head back home, grab the old drill, pack it up, and head back to Sears looking to exchange it for a better drill.

Only the same problem exists with the Makitas of the world with the batteries, so I want to stick with Craftsmans; plus I just got the impact driver, so I want to stay with the same battery set.

... Ooooor, I can exchange them both and get a drill/driver, or the higher end drills etc...

So I decide that's what I'll do; I'll just exchange them both for $190 in store credit and get a $190 drill, or maybe a $120 drill and a couple extra batteries etc...

They've got this 1/2" Drill/Driver for $120:



It comes with two batteries and a charger, and then an additional two battery and charger set for it is $75.

That solves my drill problem, but honestly, I want an impact driver anyway; and the drill/driver thing doesn't work out as well as having two of them. I mention this to the sales guy, and lo and behold, they have this Combo Kit:


It has the same drill/driver they sell on its own for $120, plus an impact wrench, a trim saw, a recip saw, a work light, and a rather nice heavy duty tool bag for all of it; and all using the same 19.2 volt Die Hard battery and charger system. Even better, it's normally $239, but it was on sale over memorial day weekend for $180 (they also have a kit with just the two drivers that lists at $160, on sale for $120, but it wasn't in stock).

So yeah, I picked up the combo kit; which was handily covered by my store credit; and just to make sure I've always got power I grabbed the charger and two battery kit to go with it.

I tested it out, and I can't stop the motor on either the drill or driver driving deck screws into 1" thick Brazillian Ipe wood; even in high gear; a test most drills, even high end drills, will fail; so I'm happy.